1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe lace cover that overlays tied shoe laces and helps keep the tied knot from becoming untied.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Shoe laces are the primary implement used to secure athletic shoes, such as running shoes, bike shoes, or even skates, onto a person's feet. Each shoe is donned, the laces are tied in a bow knot and the person is off to run, play a sport, skate, or simply walk. This method of securing shoes has been employed for decades and works quite well, although it is not without a particular drawback, that being that the knot can become untied, often at an inopportune time. Knot untying can result from many factors including a loose or otherwise poor initial knot tie or from movement over time during shoe wear, especially when the wearer is participating in a vigorous activity. In many instances, the solution is as simple as reknotting the laces and continuing on with the activity at hand. However, an untimely untied shoe can also present a sizable problem. If the shoe lace becomes untied during a vigorous activity such as playing basketball, running, or a myriad of other activities, an untied shoe creates the potential for injury for the wearer either from twisting of the ankle or knee from a shoe that is unexpectedly loose or that comes off of the foot completely, or from tripping over the loose shoe lace. In other instances retying the knot may prove challenging as in the case of small children who need others to tie their shoes or from persons who have physical limitations that either prevent such folks from being able to reach their shoes or that have insufficient strength or dexterity in their fingers and hands—from arthritis, for example—to be able to retie shoe laces.
To combat the problem of shoe lace knots becoming potentially untied, many people double knot the laces. Double knotted laces tend to hold the knot exceedingly well and rarely become untied. However, double knotting, even if there is sufficient length available in the laces to tie the double knot, has a substantial drawback. A properly tied single knot holds itself tied properly under most conditions, yet allows movement within the lace length so that the knot gives to some extent whenever the persons stresses their shoe or as a person's foot swells over time as the shoe is being worn, such swelling occurring at a more rapid rate with vigorous pursuits with the feet. This flexibility of the laces is necessary for proper foot flexing and expansion. On the other hand, a double knot holds exceptionally strong and allows almost no lace lengthening to occur even under strenuous conditions. This prevents the person's foot from flexing properly when needed and constricts the person's foot as the foot swells naturally as the length of shoe wearing marches on. Not only does this lack of lace flexibility increase the potential for injury, it also make the shoe become increasing uncomfortable to wear the longer the person wears the double knotted shoe.
To address these problems, lace protectors have been proposed. These devices interact with the shoe laces of a shoe and help maintain a single knotted shoe in a tied configuration even under prolonged use or under the high stresses imposed on the shoes and thus the laces. While many of these prior art devices work acceptably well, they are not without limitations. Many such devices are complex in design and construction so as to be relatively expensive to produce and sell as well as relatively difficult to use, often requiring a relatively long time to deploy or require undue dexterity to use which dexterity many people, even without physical limitations, may not have. Some devices require integration of the device onto the shoe via the laces so that the laces must be removed and reinstalled integral with the device. Although this installation can be a one-time event, such devices remain on the shoe indefinitely even when use of the device is not desired, as removal and reinstallment is time-consuming and cumbersome. This relative permanency of the device on the shoe discourages many users who only want to use such devices on a less than continuous basis.
What is needed is a device that can be applied to a shoe wherein the devices helps maintain the knot of single knotted laces wherein the device overcomes the above described shortcomings found in the art. Specifically, such a device must be of relatively simple design and construction and must be easy to install and deploy without the need to have acute dexterity in one's fingers. Such a device must be relatively quick and easy to install onto and remove from a pair of shoes so that use of the device is employed only when desired.